Chair having an extensible seat cushion



Feb. 19, 1957 B. BELL CHAIR HAVING AN EXTENSIBLE SEAT cusmon Filed Jan. 10, 1955 flTTORNE Y United States Patent M 2,781,827 CHAIR HAVING AN EXTENSYIBLE SEAT CUSHION Pearl B. Bell, San Francisco, Calif.

Application January 10, 1955, Serial No. 480,868 1 Claim. (Cl. 155-165) The present invention relates to improvements in an extension chair, and has particular reference to a lounge chair having an inclined back, a forwardly and upwardly inclined seat, and an apron projecting forwardly of the seat.

Lounges of this type are particularly designed to give to the occupant a sense of complete relaxation'and they are usually arranged with the back inclined substantially midway between vertical and horizontal position; and the seat section inclined upwardly at a similar angle to form a rather deep pocket between the back and the seat so that the occupant enjoys a relaxed position, with the back leaning backward and the upper leg portions leaning upward, while the lower leg portions rest on the apron.

Lounges of this type are very popular at the present time and are on the market in many different forms. In many forms the seat and'the back and the apron are adjustable to assume different relative positions and different angularities, and may be subject to occupant operation, or to operation by a person standing beside the chair.

Many types of mechanisms for operating chairs of this type have been described in prior patents and this particu lar aspect does not form any part of the present invention.

The present invention is particularly concerned with an improvement in a chair of the character described, in which the parts are arranged in comfortable reading, or relaxing position, with the back leaning backward, the seat inclined upward from rear to front and the apron extending forwardly from the front of the seat, preferably in horizontal or near-horizontal position.

Whether this is the normal, fixed position of the parts, or only one of many positions to which the chair may be adjusted, is of no moment in the present invention. No attention, will be paid, therefore to any particular mechanism for supporting the parts.

A chair of this type still has certain shortcomings. One of these is that, due to manufacturing and space considerations, the apron usually has to be made comparatively short,.so that, particularly a tall person" trying to settle down in comfort in the chair, finds his feet overhanging the apron, which curtails blood circulation, and strains the ankles, which creates a certain degree of discomfort, particularly in extended use.

Another shortcoming is that the normal upholstery used in lounges of this type, usually of inner-spring construction, does not readily contour itself to the contour of the legs resting thereon, considering that the contact faces of the legs of different persons are different and present different curvatures in a state of complete relaxation, about the thighs, below the knees and about the ankles.

In the present invention it is proposed to compensate for these shortcomings by providing a special cushion mounted on the chair in such a manner that it provides a lip or overhang in front of the apron for the feet to rest upon, the overhang being sufficiently elastic to yield 2,781,827 Patented Feb. 19, 1957 to the pressure of the feet so as to contour itself into the are formed by the heel and the ankle.

It is further proposed to shape the cushion in such a manner that it-extends over the apron and partway over the seat so that it is firmly anchored to the chairin any desiredposition by the weight of the occupant. ,i

And finally, it is proposed to arrange the cushion in such a manner that it naturally contours itself into the contour of the legs and gives elastic support to every part thereof, molding itself to follow the various curvatures of the legs in relaxed position.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear as the specification proceeds, and the new and useful features of the same will be fully defined in the claim attached hereto. V

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, forming part of this application, in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of alounge chair having my invention applied thereto;

Figure 2, a perspective view of a cushion used in my invention; and

Figure 3, a perspective view similar to that of Figure l, with a. person shown lounging in the chair.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, it should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made within the scope of the claim hereto attached, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the chair or lounge 1 is shown as being of the heavy upholstered type and including a frame 2 having two solid side members 3, with suitable interconnecting members, not shown, for holding the same in spaced and parallel relation.

Between the side members, there are mounted, a back 4, a seat 5, and an apron 6, the three parts being made to form a lounge for a person to rest upon in inclined position.

I The back 4 is inclined rearwardly, at an angle approximately midway between vertical and horizontal, and the seat 5 is inclined upwardly in a forward direction to form a deep pocket 7 for the hip portion of the occupant to be accommodated. The apron 6 extends forwardly of the frame, approximately on a level with the front portion of the seat.

The back, seat and apron may be permanently fixed in the frame in the relative positions shown, by any suitable means (not illustrated), or they may be supported by any suitable link mechanism (not shown) which allows them to substantially occupy the positions shown, but at the same time, allows them to be adjusted to various other positions, varying from straight chair position to bed position, depending upon the operating mechanism selected. Such mechanism may include means for retracting the apron into the frame in straight chair position.

The apron 6 usually is made rather short, for operational reasons and to save space and does not extend forward sufficiently to support the feet of the occupant, particularly when the latter is tall and longlegged; and the upholstery usually is not sufficiently flexible to readily follow the contour of the legs so as to come in supporting contact with all the parts thereof.

. In my invention I propose to use a cushion 8 in connection with the lounge chair, the cushion being made in two tapered sections 9 and 10 having a cover providing a hinged connection, as at 11.

The front tapered section 9 is rectangular in plan view and of a width to correspond to that of the seat. It is tapered to increase in depth from front to rear, as shown, to provide a relatively thin lip 12 in front and a deep rear wall 3.

The reartapered section10-istaperedreversely, so as-- the man section is somewliat lessthick than the; rear wall of the front section. v t a The two sections are of thesame width and present a continuous arehecl upper face 16 whenlying on a flat surface.

The hinge 1 1 lies in-the upper surface atthe cushion so that either scction may'befolded upon the other section.

The cushion isofsubstantial construction, corresponding to that of the upholstery, and is of an overall length to cause the front lip 12 to project by about five or six inches beyond the'apron 6 when; the rear lip 14 rests on theseatsubstantia'llymidway the length thereof, shown in Figure l.

The cushion may be shifted, of course, to suit the comfort and convenience of the occupant. When located in the, position shown, the hinge 11 lies substantially over the front edge of the seat.

Whemmounterl' as shown, the rear lip 140i the rear section of the cushion merges into the seat surface and risesto support the upward curvature of the lower thighs and the knees of the occupant.

Themain body portions of the two sections follow substantially the contour of the lower limbs, the otf-set in the thickness between. the two sections at the hinge corresponding substantially to the region where the calves of the lower limbs merge into the ankle cavities.

And finally the lip 12 at the extreme forward end of the cushion supports the feet of the occupant, the lip being'sufficiently strong to give essential support, and still sutficiently'elastic to allow for the downward curve between the ankle and the heel.

Thus the cushion, mounted as shown, adds greatly in contouring the supporting face of the lounge to the curvatures of the legs and in providing a self-contouring heel support.

The cushion is sufiiciently long to be self-anchoring in any operative position to which it may be adjusted and is firmly held in position by the weight of the legs of the occupant.

The cushion is made-suificiently stitt to besubstantially form-retaining and to maintain the are, while on the other hand, it is sufficientlyflexible to contour itself to the lines of the lower thighs and the lower limbs.

In its preferred form, it is made of a core of rubberized hair covered with layers of cotton on opposite sides. The split or hinge in the upper 'surface allows one section to be folded upon the other for convenience in handling and storing, and also foroccasional use-in-doubled condition where the occupant desires. an extremely high knee-support.

I claim:

A lounge chaincomprising a frame having a rearwardly inclined back section, a forwardly and upwardly inclined scat section and a relatively short apron projecting forwardly from the seat section supported thereon, and an arched, elongated flexible cushion member lying on the seat section and the apron and beingof a length to present a lip projecting forwardly from the apron when the rear end of' said member lies substantially midway on the seat, the cushion being made of two tapered sec-- tions having their heavy ends hingedly interconnected in one of the surfaces of the cushion, so as to naturally contour itself to the lower thighs, knee sections and angles of a seat occupant, with the lip forming'a self-contouring support for the feet of the occupant, and the heavy end of the rear section of the cushion being thinner than the heavy end of the other section to provide an off-set hetween the two sections.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 866,316 Watson Sept. 17, 1907 1,710,400 Bebout Apr. 23, 1929 2,060,298 Gailey Nov. 10, 1946 2,591,598 Owler s- Apr. 1, 1952 2,650,644 Malco Sept. 1, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 101 Great Britain 1906 49l .26l GreatBritain Aug. 30, 1938 

